“Your Name” is a love story only anime could tell

Makoto Shinkai’s “Your Name” released in Japan in Fall 2016 and became the fourth highest grossing film in the country. American anime distributor,Funimation, decided to bring the film  sensation stateside. After seeing the film, it’s easy to see why this beautifully animated, epic love story was able to capture the hearts and minds of millions.

The film tells the story of two Japanese high-schoolers, Mitsuha, a girl living in the traditional Japanese countryside, and Taki, a boy living in Tokyo =. While they seem quite different, these two are connected by the fact that  they are able to occasionally switch bodies for a day.

While light-hearted at first, this simple premise becomes dramatically complicated as more is revealed of not only how this happened, but how it has affected them both. To go any further would spoil the magic of this expertly crafted love story.

The opening shot of “Your Name” is a vibrant scene of a comet soaring through the clouds at dusk. This beautiful image and quality animation sets the stylistic tone for the rest of the film, as the animation never ceases to impress.

Studio CoMix Wave Films are able to capture the unique charms of countryside towns and metropolitan cities. The countryside is colorful, luscious and vibrant, and the city is brimming with life and dotted with impossible skyscrapers.

Underneath the beautiful veil lies a story that only anime could effectively tell. The high-tech equipment often used in Japanese films, be they animated or live-action, make them the most effective at creating intriguing drama which is  greatly heightened but still relatable. “Your name” uses this tactic and is able to take mundane characters or situations and turn them into a  larger-than-life experience with

What also  makes “Your Name” special is how the drama gradually and naturally builds. The film first focuses on the hilarious results of the whimsical body-switching plot and halfway through, we start to learn more of the character’s backgrounds as the larger, more complicated sci-fi narrative is revealed.

These moments change the nature of the film, building off the simplicity to create a magical doomsday scenario where the stakes could not be higher for the characters and their world. On a scale of 1 to 10, the emotions of the characters are turned up to 11. The imagery and music only serve to enhance these feelings and your investment into the characters.

Tethering the mind-bending plot are the main characters, Taki and Mitsuha. They are generic to a fault, with their personalities rooted in the fact that they are a  high-school boy and country-girl. Rather than create complicated characters where they are fleshed out, the film spends most of the first half showing the duo in comedic situations.

Despite lack of nuance, this light-hearted section of the film expertly coaxes you into caring for these characters by simply spending time with them and showing their personalities through comedy. This means that when the story becomes melodramatic as the plot escalates, the audience is still on board and willing to accept the larger-than-life stakes.

Luckily, the American voice actors re-dubbing the original Japanese performances do a great job at making these characters seem believable. While there are some awkward lines here and there, it’s still one of the better translations I’ve seen in the anime genre, rarely if ever taking me out of the movie.

During the third-act climax, I was squirming in my seat with tension as I desperately wanted to see these two admittedly bland characters get together and live a happy life as a couple.

The only thing holding these incredible moments from reaching their full potential is an odd pop soundtrack. These songs are performed by a Japanese rock group called “Radwimps” and their songs are used back the more serious or intense moments. The issue is that the music’s light tone does not fit the earth-shattering events happening on screen.

Despite some minor issues, “Your Name” is a conventional story of star-crossed lovers told in an extremely unconventional way. To explain further would weaken the impact this film has, using its Sci-Fi elements to create an engrossing romantic tale on a truly epic scale.
Rating: Most anime fans have probably already seen this, but fans of Nicholas Sparks looking for something a little more high-concept should also seek this out.

Samuel Goodrich, Staff Writer